170 



STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE BULLETINS. 



Table XXXIII. 



Varieties and Beed. 



Early Rose: 



Single eyes 



Ueaal cutting, Vi potato. 



Whole potato, email 



" " large 



Early Maine: 

 One eye . 



Usual catting, hi potato. 



Whole potato, small 



" " large 



Queen of the Valley: 

 One eye 



Usual cutting, 54 potato . 



Whole potato, small 



" " large 



Net large 

 above 

 seed. 



17 



20 

 33 



*10 



56 



85 



L37 



110 



69 



76 



107 



131 



* 10 bushels less than the seed planted. 



" One of the most marked results in the record is the effect of the form 

 of seed upon the missing hills in a crop. In a season which is very favor- 

 able for the crop throughout, this difference is less marked, but in an 

 uncommonly dry season, or an uncommonly wet one, the whole tubers 

 planted are very much surer to grow and give 'a good stand' than any of 

 the forms of cut potatoes. The facts in this respect the present year have 

 been as follows: Total missing hills, by actual count on the two acres, by 

 half acres, according to seed planted, A, 61; B, 155; C, l}91; D, 574. 

 Estimating the whole number of hills per acre (roughly) at 9,000, the loss 

 of 500 of these as the result of cutting to a single eye, is more than the 

 extra cost of seed in planting whole potatoes. 



'* Oftentimes this matter of missing hills becomes a serious one; if a 

 considerable percentage of the hills planted upon an acre fail to grow, the 

 loss in the product of the acre is large, although the latter may not bear 

 an exact ratio to the former. The records of this station show that in all 

 seasons the larger the (whole) potatoes planted the fewer are the missing 

 hills." 



In every case, the greater the quantity of seed planted, the greater the 

 product in bushels of merchantable tubers. The experience of the year 

 favors on the score of economy, the practice of using whole potatoes the 

 size of an egg, requiring from 25 to 30 bushels of seed potatoes per acre. 

 It will be seen that in the Early Rose trial (a poor crop, however) the 

 merchantable potatoes produced from the largest seed did not equal in 

 quantity the seed used. And the Queen of the Valley was the only case, 

 where the record shows that there was an actual profit in planting 76 

 bushels of large potatoes to the acre. 



" The conclusions from the year's work on potatoes may be restated, 

 as follows: 



"1. The greater the quantity of seed planted, the greater the crop, in 

 total product. 



"2. Generally, the more seed the more good potatoes of merchantable 

 size. 



"3. The most profitable seed potatoes on the average, are those of egg 

 size, one whole tuber being planted in every hill. 



"4. The less the quantity of seed used and the more it is cut, the less the 

 probability of getting a full stand. 



